"Women and men should be paid on the basis of their performance in their particular roles, but this is clearly not yet the case for far too many. It's not right that women would have to work until almost 80 for the same pay rewards as men. We have to stamp out cultures that excuse this as the result of time out for motherhood and tackle gender bias in pay policies that put too much emphasis on time served."

Mark Crail, of pay specialists XpertHR, which helped with the study, said: "The data shows that women begin to fall behind at the age when they are most likely to be starting a family, and it just gets worse from then on.

"It appears that employers often give up on women in mid-career and are missing out on a huge pool of untapped knowledge, experience and talent."

Shadow minister for women and equalities Gloria De Piero commented: "These figures reveal a depressing picture for women who want to get ahead in their careers.

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"We should be closing the pay gap for women at all stages of their working lives but instead we see pay inequality worsening for women managers as they progress and for working women across the country."

Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan said: "We're committed to delivering a long-term economic plan that works for women. That's why we are giving employees the right to request flexible working as well as introducing shared parental leave, and introducing tax-free childcare - also available for eligible parents who are self-employed.

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"We have increased free childcare to 15 hours a week for all three and four-year-olds, and are extending this to the most disadvantaged 40% of two-year-olds. Women can now make the right choice for them on how to balance work and families.

"As a result, we're seeing more women in full-time work than ever before and, although the gender pay gap remains too high, it is narrowing and for full-time workers under 40 is almost zero."

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